We caught up with Janna to ask her a few questions about her talk. Now, we're more than amped to be graced with her knowledge of the universe.

3W: Give us a clue about what you'll be talking about. What we've got you down for is Space, Time, and a Universe in Many Dimensions.

JL: I'm going to share some space-time diagrams, ways of mapping space and time, making a map of the universe in some sense. We'll go from there to talk about what if the universe is finite or infinite, and then even get into black holes, which will get into some fun stuff. I have this theory that there are colliding black holes, which bang into each other like a drum, and one day we will hear them....

3W: Sounds wild. There's a lot of popculture around black holes and their existence. What are black holes like?

JL: There are two ways to think of black holes. One way is to think about black holes as astrophysical objects, made of the dust of stars --and there are hardcore, real observations and documentation to prove their existence. Then there's the purely theoretical terrain, those black holes are often math on paper. These people do the "what's inside of a black hole?" questions. These aren't bad questions.

3W: So you seem to do a lot, if not everything. You're a novelist too. Do you use a different part of your brain for that?

JL: (Laughs) Yes! It's so strange, it's really a zone. i have to marinate for hours or days before anything really clicks. When it works right it's almost musical. The writing has a musicality or pace to it. i draw storyboards, i almost figure out what i'm doing it's like a sculpture, actually it's more like a space. How the Universe Got its Spots--it's for non scientists. It's more like a little travelogue. There's a different sort of angle--the book is novelistic in tone in writing. I didn't write that book as a professor emeritus coming own from the mountains to educate the masses. It's not authoritative.

3W: Do you ever think about going to space? It seems like with all these privatized missions it's a really possibility if you have money.

We're super excited to host a screening and conversation with independent documentary producer, cameraman, and editor Thor Neureiter here at 3rd Ward on Tuesday, July 17. Besides having a really cool name, his crucial POV in conversations around US foreign policy and domestic politics.

We had a minute to interview Thor amid his busy traveling schedule:

3W: How'd you get so into exploring U.S. foreign policy in your work?

TN: My interest in foreign policy isn't so much the obvious thing of reporting the war. I don't have that interest in dodging bullets, and it's great that other people do. War is our most impactful form of foreign policy, but what I want to know is, what happens afterwards? We've been in Afghanistan for how long? 9 years, almost 10 years. There was an article in the NY Times, it was a very rosy picture article about the mineral wealth in the country, sort of like a knight-in shining-armor story. So I started doing research about minerals in Afghanistan.

3W: Is this a new discovery, these minerals in Afghanistan?

TN: This story goes back hundreds of years. But the terrain is so rugged, it's really hard to access the mountainside and the minerals. There's really no infrastructure; Afghanistan doesn't really have a railroad. It's not like a shining moment. It started with the English, then the Indians, the Italians and Germans, and of course the Soviets. the U.S. took all that info and created their own high-tech database that sort of mapped everything out. It is a really phenomenal thing, a century's worth of geological location.

3W: Where in Brooklyn do you live?

TN: Park Slope-- been there off and on since 2001. I always come back to Brooklyn. I like the trees and the neighborhood feel. As a transplant, it's one of the first places i lived, and I guess I keep going back.

3W: So, your latest film is about Mitt Romney being Mormon. What's that about?

TN: I've been fortunate to work with senior producers of a weekly current affairs show, People & Power, at Al-Jazeerah, Bob Abeshouse. With this being an election year, it's especially important. Mitt Romney is a 5th generation Mormon, from the founding family's of the religion in the U.S. If he does become president, he will be the most religious person to ever become president. He was basically the Boston Archdiocese if you make a comparison to the Catholic religion. On the surface it's sort of a weird story, oh he's a Mormon so what? But he's actually a very influential person in his church. We tried to add to the conversation about domestic politics.

As you can see, he's no stranger to knocking on the toughest doors and getting answers.

Mighty Tanaka and DUMBO's powerHouse Arena present acclaimed NYC photog Mike Schreiber's book launch for TRUE HIP HOP. Mike's captured some of the most essential Hiphop artists of our times, and the show will feature never before seen works that are making their way out of his visual archives.

We've got an amazing collabo with Hell's Kitchen Flea Market, THIS SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. Usually a place to score rare finds, our friends at HKFM opened up their booths for a special Member Made event! 4 lucky winners will win a $100 Gift Certificate to use towards a 3rd Ward class or membership!

Our friends at Planet Mag did an awesome write up: [it's] a "one-off specialty market featuring merchandise made by New York City artisans. 3rd Ward is the DIYer’s most invaluable resource in the city, a workspace that rents equipment to photographers, woodworkers, and metallurgists, and offers studio space for artists and classes for novices. Member Made rounds up the best of 3rd Ward’s member professionals, who are independent designers and business- owners in their own right." Read more >>>

When you've done it all in South BK, wind down for drinks at the darling and fresh restaurant, Donna, which stays open until 4 a.m. It's a stone's throw from the Williamsburg Waterfront, With its vaulted ceilings, pristine woodwork reminiscent of a lone Latin-American church, and DJs spinning mostly old soul and R&B 45s, this is a gem.

There's lots of goodies you can find around these parts, esp. at vintage joints in Williamsburg (for a once-in-a-while wonder @ Meeker Avenue Flea Market or Junk ), but often you have to look reaaaaally carefully to envision the possibilities.

Some folks are just better at doing that, and we love Vintage Revivals, a blog dedicated to "Thrift Shop Glam" -- as coined by the creator herself, Mandi Gubler. We'll be checking out a lot more of Mandi's easy and imaginative redos.

The tin foil vintage nightside table adds a lot of character to an old piece of furniture, and the look of antique furniture is made out of stuff right out of your kitchen drawer!

We're so excited to get this weekend on! There's always stuff happening in and around Brooklyn, and we wanted to give you our tips to keep it cool this weekend.

#1

McCarren Park Pool Swimming //

We kinda love how McCarren Pool's kept their kitsch-to-the-point-of-ugly website to celebrate their updo. Flaunt your new bathing gear and remember to keep yourself sunscreened. The grand opening continues this weekend. Don't get scared, the pool's big enough to accomodate 1,500 folks.

WHERE: 475 Lorimer St. // Driggs Ave. and Bayard St.

WHEN: 11am-3pm and 4pm-7pm

$$: Free!!!!

image courtesy of mccarren park pool

#2

Spread Love Party // Tonight GREENPOINT WATERFRONT

Brought to you by The Brooklyn Good Guys. This crowd has got the style, vibe and fly moves. DJ Sucio Smash makes you want to wind, grind and maybe find summer love. Tequila and dancehall can do that.

WHERE: 10 Java St.

WHEN: TONIGHT @ 8pm -----> onwards

$$: FREE

#3

Party Like it's 1999 // Bell House

Bring on the grunge, cutoffs and sleeveless flannel at this epic party in Gowanus. It'll probably smell like teen spirit....woot!

WHERE: BELL HOUSE // 149 7th Street // 2nd and 3rd Ave.

WHEN: 10pm to 3am

$$: FREE!!!

#4

New Museum // Klara Lidén Exhibit Ends July 1

Check out this ingenious and psychologically charged cluster of installations. A motley of discarded objects from cities around the world compose sculptural hideaways, scaled to her own body, in unexpected places.

This is a great exercise in letting a project take the shape it will take, and no two pieces will be exactly alike. We think this project feels like a interior design science experiment, copper wires, test tubes, plant life and all!

Here are the materials you'll need:

1/4″ x 20′ copper coil (you can find this in the plumbing section of hardware stores)

The Sounder is an iPad and iPhone stand and natural amplifier that doubles the volume when you place your iPad in the slot.. No wires or plugs, just amplification with this handy stand.

Each piece is made from wood salvaged from 19th century factories or reclaimed from demolition sites. Each Sounder has a bit of history, a wholly modern piece crafted from the wood of 200 yr old trees.

Here's his Kickstarter video. Help Howard bring The Sounder to production by donating today!

#1

June 22 to July 1, 2012

Why call it a festival, when you've got a town? This pop up photography village is made of freight containers transformed into temporary exhibition spaces in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The scope is huge: exhibitions, lectures, hands-on workshops, nighttime projections, a photo dog run, a camera greenhouse, and a summer beer garden amid food trucks.

image courtesy of Photoville

#2

We're lucky that all the celebrated films from Cannes, Sundance, SXSW (and more) come to us here in NY first. Even better that it's in Brooklyn! Besides the motley of flicks we want to check out, we want to see Jon Krasinski (Jim from The Office!) play half of an LA couple, whose lives are stirred up when a woman moves in with them.

Keep listening to Hiphop after the Ghostface show is over. This party features NYC DJ heavy-hitters who know how to play the classics we wanna hear. If listening to 90s music does you right, or you prefer traveling even farther back into the funk and soul era, then this is where you need to be.